The Spirit Tortoise has advanced to the point where we can see the castle of Melromarc.
If it continues like this… well, it’ll definitely pass through the castle town. If so, Melromarc’s castle town will be destroyed like in a monster movie.
It seems that it will take an hour for Fitoria to arrive.
“Queen, how’s the evacuation going?”
“We’ve finished evacuating the people.”
Huh… It seems like she figured out what was going on and let the people in the castle town escape. She sure had a high ability to sense and avoid danger…
“If the evacuation is already finished, then we’re good, right? We’ll abandon the castle and the castle town.”
There’s no need to go through all that trouble to protect Melromarc’s castle town. As long as the people survive, we can rebuild it.
The people have been repairing the damage caused by the waves on their own anyways. I don’t want to waste my time either.
I need to climb onto the Spirit Tortoise as soon as possible, the methods of sealing it or even defeating it aren’t going to figure themselves out after all.
While we do that, Fitoria will arrive and might actually defeat the Spirit Tortoise for all we know.
But, the Queen made a surprised expression.
“W-wait a minute. If our country’s castle and castle town were to be destroyed, we would have to spend a lot of time rebuilding. In that case, it will hinder our assistance to the Heroes, is that all right?” the Queen said.
I see her stuttering there. Well, it’s not like I don’t understand why she is troubled.
If the castle and castle town, which are the symbols of the country, are destroyed, the value of the country itself, Melromarc, will decrease.
I’m sure she wouldn’t want to suffer such losses as the disaster called the Waves is looming over.
Regardless, it’s not like I can’t understand the Queen’s desire to limit the damage to her own country.
“We also had our country’s castle and towns suffer damage!”
“Asking Sir Shield Hero to protect the castle of your country, is an unreasonable request!”
“Are you trying to limit the damage JUST to your own country!?”
“You vixen of Melromarc! That’s why the three heroes church run amok!”
With every country having already suffered damage, when the time comes for Melromarc’s turn, and she pleads with me to protect the castle and castle town even after already having evacuated the residents… of course the reactions from the others would turn out like that.
Again, it’s not like I don’t understand.
“So what if I am? I am appealing to the Shield Hero, Iwatani-sama, in order to minimize the damage to my country. The times and circumstances are different.” The Queen covered her mouth with a fan and replied calmly.
“What did you say!?”
“How selfish!”
The representatives of the other countries, the upper echelons within the Allied Forces, impeached the Queen as they pointed their fingers at her.
“Then let me ask you this. When the Spirit Tortoise attacked your country, was Iwatani-sama nearby? Who ordered the reckless assaults when your castles were being attacked?”
Ah… yeah. Queen’s logic makes sense.
I wasn’t there when the countries where the upper echelons of the Allied Forces were from were attacked.
They made the reckless choice to charge in when their castles were about to be destroyed by the Spirit Tortoise.
‘Because misfortune has befallen upon us, the same should happen to you!’ That is the reasoning of the countries of the Allied Force that suffered damage from the Spirit Tortoise. There’s no way such reasoning will pass. Bringing up things like equality for that would be ridiculous.
But this time, I’m nearby. If we wait an hour, the Legendary Filolial, who might be able to defeat the Spirit Tortoise will come.
There is a big difference between this situation and their situation. Just when I was convinced…
“You vixen! You don’t have a human heart!”
“You’re prioritizing your country’s interests!”
“I have no intention of joining the Spirit Tortoise Victims Association. What is it? Should everyone here equally receive damage by the Spirit Tortoise? Our goal here is to defeat the Spirit Tortoise, and nothing more.”
The Queen is making sense… but her eyes keep on glancing over in my direction.
Giving me the same look like when Melty asked me for help. They really are mother and daughter in this regard.
It reminds of Bitch for some reason though.
… Haaah…
Well, the ones who’d be troubled if the castle were to be destroyed would be the Queen, the residents of Melromarc, and Melty of course.
Melty should be fine considering the completion of the evacuation, though I can only wonder what kind of face she’d make if she found out that I’ve abandoned protecting the castle.
Filo has also been sending me glances as well. After all, Melty is also Filo’s best friend. It’d be troublesome if the support from this country becomes uncertain.
“For the time being, I’ll do my best,” I muttered reluctantly.
“Iwatani-sama, may I take that as you saying that you will hold back the Spirit Tortoise?” The Queen jumped at my words.
“Yeah, the purpose of my summoning is to save this world. Which is to say… minimizing damage is part of my job. I’ll try to hold it back as much as I possibly can until Fitoria arrives.”
“I am grateful for Iwatani-sama’s mercy.”
“Grrr…”
“Taking advantage of Sir Shield Hero’s goodwill…”
“You damn vixen! After this battle is over, you better not forget this!”
Wow, the bashing towards the Queen sure is harsh.
I can’t help but feel that there is a complete crack in the diplomacy between the countries, but I think that this is also for the sake of the world, and the Queen will have to do her best after the war.
Honestly… The Queen could have just said that the evacuation wasn’t finished yet, even if she was just lying.
—
Conclusion: Melromarc’s reputation takes a dive for the worse.
